Creation of 6-8 minute Film Trailer for MUD LOTUS

DePauw screenwriting professor (two-time Sundance Screenwriters Lab finalist), Christine White, would direct a film 'trailer' of her screenplay in collaboration with DePauw communications and theatre professor Jonathan Nichols-Pethick. The screenplay, Mud Lotus, is the story of a Buddhist monk who comes to Indiana in search of his deceased teacher's reincarnation. When he finds a nine-year old asthmatic girl he comes to believe is the holy 'tulku' in the negligent care of her reckless parents, he must face his own burdensome karma when he tries to ‘save' her. A 'trailer', in this usage of the term, is a film teaser produced to attract potential investors and, in this case, hone the skills of the production team on a project of manageable length. Though White teaches screenwriting and has directed plays on stage, she has never directed for film. She would like to gain experience in directing to enrich her screenwriting classes, and also to explore her abilities/potential for directing the feature-length version of this project, or other new projects, in the future. Professor Nichols-Pethick would serve as director of photography (supervising and/or performing all technical aspects of filming, audio recording, and lighting). Though he teaches extensively in film studies (and is head of the program), his personal production experience is limited to television news. He'd like to learn hands-on about narrative film production so he can teach classes on the subject as well as expand his own creative expertise, with the possible goal of eventually filming the feature-length version of this film or other creative film projects.